In the 2002 documentary, Gone Tomorrow: Hidden Life of Trash by Heather Rogers the lid is lifted on the secret life of trash. From its final resting place in large landfills to the origins in our homes, this movie explores how American society deals with their trash. We generate about 4.5 pounds of trash per person per day, and where does this trash go? To the landfill, landfills came into favor for waste disposal after World War II when the army corp. of engineers began using them for domestic disposal of camp waste. Once sanitary landfills became cost effective and “viable” waste disposal solution consumer culture that hit its heyday in the 1950’s with the high wages. In order for Capitalism to thrive and grow, consumption needs to grow along with it. Therefore, planned obsolescence became the driving mechanism for economic growth.
Planned obsolescence is a matrix problem, because products are designed to be out of favor very quickly and therefore are thrown out, beginning their journey to the landfill. Obsolescence can be for technological advances or for a new style. All of this spurred from the increase in capability to produce. Increases in production lead to increases in consumption as products or goods became less expensive, this increase in consumption leads to more trash generation. Cultural perceptions of style, lead people to purchase the latest and greatest gadget or article of clothing, more likely than not the older version will be simply thrown out.
The movie states that, our cultural perception of trash is far removed from the reality. Most everyone believes recycling is a good idea, and needs to be implemented, but of all plastic consumed about five percent is actually recycled. Recycled plastic is structurally different than so called “virgin” plastic, in order to achieve a structure that is a saleable item. This plastic is often turned into items that can no longer be recycled, therefore ending up in the landfill.
As the documentary progresses other points for intervention in this problem, but ultimately the responsibility for this issue realize on social regulation, putting the responsibility for waste management regulation on the individual basis. I watched another documentary about trash, called Trashed that was made by University of Southern California that explored cultural perceptions of waste and waste management (Boonstra, 2007). Both films say that because trash is not a personal responsibility, meaning we don’t have to dispose of it ourselves, we have a disconnect between the perception and the reality. We just put our trash on the curb and its “gone.” Why is it that as a culture we don’t understand the consequences of our actions? Why is it that we see things as “disposable”? Is it possibly because of under education? The solutions to those questions may not be easy. But a matrix of issue’s ranging from education to corporate practices.
I enjoyed this documentary and believe that it opens people’s eyes to a “hidden” problem. As a piece of environmental education material, this documentary is a valuable source of information. It may not be very deep, but it stimulates one’s mind and possibly gets people interested in working on this issue. This movie is about twenty minutes in length, and there for I feel like this film’s target audience would be high school students, or even younger children. It had a strong take away message that has been preached for a long time but is still relevant. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. The more we can reuse the less environmental harm we have on our planet. I leave you with a little research I did on trash, a video form Waste Management, explaining their position on sustainability (Waste Management).
Gone Tomorrow: Hidden Life of Trash
In the 2002 documentary, Gone Tomorrow: Hidden Life of Trash by Heather Rogers the lid is lifted on the secret life of trash. From its final resting place in large landfills to the origins in our homes, this movie explores how American society deals with their trash. We generate about 4.5 pounds of trash per person per day, and where does this trash go? To the landfill, landfills came into favor for waste disposal after World War II when the army corp. of engineers began using them for domestic disposal of camp waste. Once sanitary landfills became cost effective and “viable” waste disposal solution consumer culture that hit its heyday in the 1950’s with the high wages. In order for Capitalism to thrive and grow, consumption needs to grow along with it. Therefore, planned obsolescence became the driving mechanism for economic growth.
Planned obsolescence is a matrix problem, because products are designed to be out of favor very quickly and therefore are thrown out, beginning their journey to the landfill. Obsolescence can be for technological advances or for a new style. All of this spurred from the increase in capability to produce. Increases in production lead to increases in consumption as products or goods became less expensive, this increase in consumption leads to more trash generation. Cultural perceptions of style, lead people to purchase the latest and greatest gadget or article of clothing, more likely than not the older version will be simply thrown out.
The movie states that, our cultural perception of trash is far removed from the reality. Most everyone believes recycling is a good idea, and needs to be implemented, but of all plastic consumed about five percent is actually recycled. Recycled plastic is structurally different than so called “virgin” plastic, in order to achieve a structure that is a saleable item. This plastic is often turned into items that can no longer be recycled, therefore ending up in the landfill.
As the documentary progresses other points for intervention in this problem, but ultimately the responsibility for this issue realize on social regulation, putting the responsibility for waste management regulation on the individual basis. I watched another documentary about trash, called Trashed that was made by University of Southern California that explored cultural perceptions of waste and waste management (Boonstra, 2007). Both films say that because trash is not a personal responsibility, meaning we don’t have to dispose of it ourselves, we have a disconnect between the perception and the reality. We just put our trash on the curb and its “gone.” Why is it that as a culture we don’t understand the consequences of our actions? Why is it that we see things as “disposable”? Is it possibly because of under education? The solutions to those questions may not be easy. But a matrix of issue’s ranging from education to corporate practices.
I enjoyed this documentary and believe that it opens people’s eyes to a “hidden” problem. As a piece of environmental education material, this documentary is a valuable source of information. It may not be very deep, but it stimulates one’s mind and possibly gets people interested in working on this issue. This movie is about twenty minutes in length, and there for I feel like this film’s target audience would be high school students, or even younger children. It had a strong take away message that has been preached for a long time but is still relevant. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. The more we can reuse the less environmental harm we have on our planet. I leave you with a little research I did on trash, a video form Waste Management, explaining their position on sustainability (Waste Management).
To experience more Click Here
Bibliography
Rogers, Heather. (Director).(2002). Gone Tomorrow: Hidden Life of Trash [Motion Picture].
http://www.gonetomorrow.org/thebook.html
Boonstra, D. (Director). (2007). Trashed [Motion Picture].
Waste Management . The Big Picture [Motion Picture].